Error (New York Times, Op-Ed by Rashid Khalidi, 1/8/09): Israel still controls access to the area, imports and exports, and the movement of people in and out.

Fact: Although Israel naturally controls it's own border with the Gaza Strip, the Gaza-Egypt border is controlled by Hamas and Egypt, and not Israel. This has been made clear by Egypt's periodic opening of the crossing point without regard to Israel's wishes. You can find a detailed discussion of this issue here.

Error (AFP, 12/6/07): Following the Hamas takeover Israel further upped the strict travel restrictions in and around Gaza, from where it removed troops and settlers in 2005 but whose borders it still controls.

Fact: Israel does not and cannot impose travel restrictions "in" Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas. Also, Israel does not control Gaza's borders. While the country of course does control its own border with the Gaza Strip, the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt is not under Israeli control. In fact, in the days before this AFP piece was published, almost 2000 Palestinians passed from Gaza into Egypt via the Rafah crossing, against Israel's wishes. Israel filed a diplomatic protest with Egypt about the incident.